Once the Woodruff Manifesto of
1890 had dismantled the practice of polygamy, Utah moved
steadily toward achieving statehood. Territorial delegate
John T. Caine introduced a bill on 14 January 1893 for a
statehood enabling act. This bill lost, however, and became
the pattern for a bill introduced by Caine's successor
Joseph L. Rawlins. The Rawlins Statehood Bill passed the
House of Representatives on 13 December 1893 and emerged
from Congress the following July as Utah's
Enabling Act. Signed by President Cleveland on 18 July
1894, the act provided for the election of delegates to a
constitutional convention held the following March.
Territorial Governor Caleb West (1893-1896) proclaimed the
opening of the convention as "a red-letter day for Utah;
this is the most glorious day of her history."

The constitutional convention,
presided over by Republican John Henry Smith,
met from 4 March to 8 May 1895. Smith was presented as the only nominee
by George B. Squires and received unanimous support from the convention
members. His motto, "Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain,"
set the stage for a convention faced with numerous tasks, including acceptance
of the American constitution, formation of committees, rules of order,
arrangement of seating, permanent offices, and, perhaps most pressing,
the woman suffrage issue. The convention's final outcome would be a constitution
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patterned closely after those of other American states but one which met
the requirements of a territory with a unique history.

Perhaps the most controversial
topic, along with the initial polygamy question, involved
woman suffrage. Suffrage was granted first in 1870 by the
territorial legislature but later revoked by Congress in
1887 as part of a national effort to rid the territory of
polygamy. Women in Utah had enjoyed the support and
attention of the national Woman's
Suffrage Association since 1870 and were determined to
see their rights restored. Suffragists established numerous
branches of the national
association throughout the
territory in hopes of generating grassroots support for
restoring the right of women to vote. This tactic proved
successful when the rights to vote and hold office were
written into the constitution of the new state in 1895.